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For the love of snail mail- Pattie from Poland

Welcome to my newest crafting series- For The Love of Snail Mail. Today's guest may be a familiar one as she was recently featured on The Journal Diaries. (Click hereto see her beautiful art journalings.) Pattie is here again today to share more about her snail mailing hobby with us, how she got into it, and what she enjoys most about it.

- Hi Pattie! Happy to have you here again and welcome. For those that may not know, can you please tell us a little more about yourself?

Well, my name's Pattie and it's my most common nickname in the internet world. I'm 19 and I live in southern Poland. I was living in Germany for quite a while and I have Austrian roots, so I really had to tell that I'll happily live here again.

- How did you get into snail mail and penpaling, and how long have you been doing it for?

That's a funny story, because my friend showed me postcrossing.comat first and I loved it, but it was quite a short period, then I checked someone's profile and there was a link to this person's instagram with the code words like "penpal" or "mail-art." Even direct swaps were completely new for me. But soon it appeared that the longer I used these words, the much I loved snail mail. I'm still a newbie in crafty things, but it's a year by now.

- How many penpals do you currently have and where are they from?

It's always a more/less temporary number, because sometimes it's impossible to say no to someone! But I have quite a few people and I'm writing with them this whole year and I'm not going to stop writing them by far. So yeah, they're from Russia, Slovenia. Brazil, Germany, USA (quite a few lovely humans from USA, all in different states! That's amazing) and some more countries I can't remember by now. I also write with my lovelies on Poland.

-How did you come across the majority of your penpals?

I've found most of my penpals through Instagram. Although my beloved one Russian penpal has found me via postcrossing.comand this really cheeky option, "direct swaps." :) I also have connected with people via tumblr (crazy!) and their art-blogs.

- What are a few things you enjoy sending?

I really enjoy sending long letters and now I've started to send poems and make my mails more artsy. It's really hard to put something written by Richard Siken onto a small piece of paper, haha!

- What are some things that you enjoy receiving?

I really adore when people send me the things they did especially for me. You know, I like to call it "personalised art" with something especially for you. When you know that it was made just for you. That's some lovely things to receive.

- What have been some of the most memorable mail you've received?

Some of my most memorable ones...hm. Yeah, I've got 5 of them actually. One has been as the first ever mail I've received and it was from the USA, which is so so far away from where I live. It was just a small envelope but with a handmade flower on it. I was so incredibly happy when I saw it in my mailbox. The other one was on of the most beautiful mails ever, so floral and birdal. Was a shame to unpack it. Then I received a bag of goodies from Holland with many references to Harry Potter. And the last two ones are also from the USA and the newest one is from Germany. (The most incredible thing is when people put so much effort in their artworks!)

- When is the best time to put together your snail mail?

Now I have no time for fun, so I have to do it only during Saturday's and evenings are the best periods for craft, so that's it. Also, when I have some time during the week, I'm usually writing replies.

- Have you met any of your penpals in person?

I haven't yet! But it was very close. I promised my Russian penpal to visit her someday and I'll do my best to keep my promise.

- What advice could you give for anyone looking to make a good an genuine connection with their penpals?

I'm still learning as I said, but I'm doing it via Instagram. It's a really helpful app. And I'm trying to write really long letters, if I know that the delivery takes ages. :)